Wednesday, April 16, 2014

A Finish....

Two good things I learned while doing my CQ sampler.

  1. Make sure your block has some kind of defined border that is nice and straight....not all over the place like mine was.
  2. Leave at least half an inch of clear space around the edge...no beads, no embroidery...nothing! 
Why?...because you are really not going to have a great time trying to finish it off nicely.

After cutting the edge very neatly.....I'm such a fibber:).....I had nothing to put a binding on so I sort of cheated. First I cut some heavy pellon about 1/2 inches larger that what I was left with and placed my block on that. I stared at it for awhile.

Then I roughly cut some backing material from a scrap I had.  I lay my pellon/block bit on top.

Not bad...I took off the block and folded the fabric over the pellon like I was wrapping a gift.


I then pinned it nicely and carefully basted it so that no stitches could be seen on the back. I closed the mitered edges with a invisible ladder stitch.


I found a small lace edging that matched the fabric and basted that on the raw edge of the block...voila.
 
Now all I need a some gimp edging to put over the outside edge of the lace and finish it off nicely.

Phew.....I have learned my lesson and will be careful when doing my CQ blocks in future :)

Take care. 




13 comments:

  1. You did a great job of figuring out what to do for your edging...and a great job on your block too! You have good reason to be very proud of your work.

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  2. BEAUTIFUL! It turned out so lovely! I'll bet it is even better in person. :)

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  3. Your block is beautiful and the lace edge was a clever solution.

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  4. Oh my, that is completely gorgeous

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  5. I like the way you have finished off your sampler and the whole thing looks lovely. Thank you for the video links. xx

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  6. Well I think it looks lovely Mary Ann, perhaps you've stumbled upon a new binding technique?!

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  7. A very clever solution! I may have to use this idea as I never seem to allow myself enough room at the edges of my pieces. Love your CQ square - it looks like a beautiful, riotous spring garden. Beautiful!

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  8. It's lovely. I never manage to get anything straight!

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  9. Lovely piece of work Mary Ann. The lace is pretty and discreet and doesn't take your eye away from the embroidery.

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  10. What a great finish. The block is absolutely stunning.

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  11. your block is lovely. unfortunately all the silk ribbon I ordered didn't arrive yet, and I can't justify ordering more. Time to do the embroidery and then I'll figure out what to do.

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  12. What a triumph your sampler has turned out to be. It is a perfect example of all the stitches learnt and those butterflies are awesome. Hugs Mrs A.

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